Gooding at Amelia Island 2025: Day one

Gooding posted just over $14m in sales today on the opening afternoon of its two-day Amelia Island auction. The debut of ‘Gooding Christie’s’ saw nine out of ten cars find new owners, with proceedings dominated by older entries such as Brass Era at No Reserve and classics from the golden age of 1930s design.

The 1931 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Sedan ($2,342,500 gross) came out the winner, though many were expecting the 1935 Avions Voisin C25 Aérodyne estimated at $2m to $2.5m to be today’s success story. It sold below estimate for $1,985,000 all-in.

Auctioneer Charlie Ross was on the top of his game with good-natured quips such as “A thousand? This is an auction not a circus!” and masterfully teasing out bids on the much-fancied green 1953 Bentley R Type Continental Fastback (top) from the mid-$700ks when it was declared “on sale” to a final hammer price of $1,100,000, or $1,215,000 with premium. Est. $800k to $1.2m. He is good.
 

At a glance (Thursday 6 March, provisional)

* Gross, motor cars: $14,066,580
* Percentage sold by number: 92%
* Top-selling car: 1931 Duesenberg Model J Convertible Sedan $2,342,500 gross, $2,125,000 net (est. $1.7m to $1.9m)
* Well sold? The Duesie went well; it could have stalled but Amelia or Pebble are the best venues for these cars.
* Well bought? Much of the catalogue was of high quality – and a high percentage at No Reserve, so there were bargains to be had. The 1967 Mercedes-Benz 300 SE Cabriolet was in the former category but not the latter, though it was bought nearly 20 per cent below lower estimate. A fabulous car for $235,200 all-in.

The non-sellers on the day included the 1952 Allard J2X (a difficult era unless cheap), homely 1951 Ferrari 195 Inter Coupé (ditto), 1959 Bentley S1 Continental Drophead Coupé (just too much money for this one) and the 1938 Peugeot 402 Darl’mat Special Sport Coupé, a niche model with an estimate hard to justify given its shopping car badge.

Other results of note (all prices gross):

* 1961 Jaguar E-type Series 1 3.8-Litre Fixedhead Coupé, $123,200. Someone bagged a terrific early E-type FHC in  Opalescent Bronze.
* 1984 Ferrari 512 BBi, $392,000. All-red not to everyone’s taste but another very well-restored car.
* 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL 'Gullwing', $1,501,000. The right money for a non-original colours inside and out Gullwing albeit one done correctly by a ‘name’.

* 1931 Aston Martin 1 1/2 Litre International 2/4 Seater (above), $179,200. Pre-war motoring in a sporting car with one of the great badges does not get much better than this. Particularly at that price.
* 1954 Fiat 8V Series II Berlinetta, Not Sold. Ungainly 1950s again.
* 1950 Jaguar XK120 Alloy Roadster, $224,000. RM’s $89k alloy XK sold in Miami last week was much talked about today. This result will be a shot in the arm for the model, but it was a very nice car.

It was a good performance as we’ve come to expect from the Santa Monica firm, and they’ve got to do it all again tomorrow with a big catalogue of 87 cars to sell headed by the magnificent 1955 Ferrari 375 MM Berlinetta (above) at $8m to $10m. Get an early night, Charlie.

Photos by K500